Washington sanctions more vessels linked with shipping Iranian goods

The US Department of the Treasury (DoT) has added more vessels to its sanctions list for allegedly facilitating illicit Iranian trade.

PHOTO: The flags of Iran and the US. Getty Images

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Iranian military entity Sahara Thunder for facilitating and financing the sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

UAVs are drones that the Iran-backed Houthi militants have been using to attack commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

OFAC has sanctioned several shipping companies and five cargo vessels involved in facilitating Sahara Thunder’s activities, it said.

The Cook Islands-flagged vessel CHEM conducted multiple Iranian commodities shipments since 2022, OFAC said. The vessel, operated by UAE-based Safe Seas Ship Management, is chartered to India-based Zen Shipping & Port India company.

OFAC has also sanctioned the vessel LA PEARL, which also goes by the name ELITE, for conducting ship-to-ship (STS) transfer of Iranian commodities on behalf of Iran-based energy company Sepehr Energy.

OFAC had sanctioned Sepehr Energy in November 2023.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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